


Dueling Disguises

by Politzania



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes is Not the Winter Soldier, Identity Porn, M/M, Tony Stark is still a Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist, Unintentional Role Playing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-23 03:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20001661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Politzania/pseuds/Politzania
Summary: Junior SHIELD analyst James "Bucky" Barnes is in way over his head, impersonating a deadly mercenary in order to get evidence that Obadiah Stane  is behind the contract to kill his boss, Tony Stark.    In the middle of the mission, Bucky goes to a club to blow off some steam and meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to the billionaire genius.





	Dueling Disguises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [journeythroughtherain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/journeythroughtherain/gifts).



> Name of Piece: Dueling Disguises  
> Square Filled: Y1: Kink - Role Playing  
> Also WinterIron Week Day 6: Identity Porn  
> Pairing: WinterIron (Tony x Bucky)  
> Rating: Teen  
> Warnings: none  
> Summary: Junior SHIELD analyst James "Bucky" Barnes is in way over his head, impersonating a deadly mercenary in order to frame Obadiah Stane for the attempted murder of his boss, Tony Stark. In the middle of the mission, Bucky goes to a club to blow off some steam and meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to the billionaire genius. 
> 
> Many thanks to @journeythroughtherain for gifting me the idea that got this fic kickstarted - hope you like it, hon!

“Who knows? Maybe we’re actually doing everyone a favor.” The man sitting across from Bucky in a quiet corner of a Beverly Hills bistro leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. A slow, toothy grin spread across Obadiah Stane’s face, making him look in Bucky’s opinion very much like a great white shark. “After all, when men like Tony Stark self-destruct -- and believe me, he’s not far from that point -- there tends to be a lot of collateral damage.” 

If he were to continue the aquatic analogy, Bucky was way out of his depth; only a wayward wave or two from drowning in deception. He was just a junior analyst at SHIELD, for crissake, not a spy, and certainly not the cold-blooded mercenary he was pretending to be. But a man’s life hung in the balance, so Bucky played the role as best he knew how. 

His palms were sweating like crazy in the leather gloves he wore as part of his disguise, but Bucky feigned a slight sense of boredom as Stane continued his monologue. “Wouldn’t you agree that this tragic accident we have under discussion would allow Tony to go out on a high note? Let us celebrate his achievements, his genius?” His gaze bored into Bucky -- the man was nearly as charismatic as his protege, if nowhere near as attractive. 

Bucky responded with a curt nod. “да.” The Winter Soldier was known to be a man of few words, a good portion of which were Russian. While Bucky was only somewhat fluent -- his ex, Natasha, had talked him into auditing her language classes when they were dating and his favorite neighbor was a feisty little  _ babushka  _ \-- it had been enough to fool Stane. At least so far. 

“Very well.” Stane unlaced his hands and smacked both palms on the table. ”We’ll meet tomorrow, same time, same place and bring your tools of the trade. Tony’s not expected back in town til day after tomorrow, so I can take you out to his mansion to reconnoiter. Waiter -- check please!” 

Bucky collected his car from the valet and got out on to Santa Monica Drive before murmuring, “You get all that?” 

“Roger -- you did a great job, Barnes,” came a voice from his carefully concealed commlink; the Soldier’s preference for long hair was another piece of fortune in their favor. “One more meeting and we’ll have enough to put this bastard behind bars for the rest of his life.” 

Agent Sharon Carter -- grand niece of the legendary Peggy Carter, co-founder of SHIELD -- was leading this operation. She had been the one to meet Bucky at the airport after Deputy Director Hill herself whisked him out of his cubicle and to LaGuardia with only a ten minute stop at his apartment to grab some personal belongings. 

He’d received his briefing on the flight out west: SHIELD had credible information linking the CFO of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane, to a contract for the assassination of Tony Stark, his putative boss and the creative mind behind the company. Bucky’s uncanny physical resemblance to the Winter Soldier, as well as his language skills and sharpshooting record with SHIELD made him a prime candidate for impersonation of the notorious assassin for hire. 

“I’ll be honest with you, Barnes,” Carter told him just before touchdown. “I do have a personal stake in this situation. Tony’s like a cousin to me, and while he’s not perfect, we need people like him in this world a lot more than we need ones like Stane. I’ll do everything I can to support you during the op, but you’re going to have to think on your feet. Can you pull this off?”

“Yes ma’am.” Bucky probably should have confessed that he had a bit of a personal stake as well; Tony Stark had been his bisexual awakening. He had started off idolizing the boy genius when he himself was just a kid -- fascinated by the robot Tony had built with his own two hands. He’d tried making his own robots out of LEGO and other construction toys, and had won a few elementary school science fair projects with them. 

But as he grew older, Bucky found himself physically and romantically attracted to the young man who, despite the tragic loss of his parents, was taking the tech world by storm. He fantasized about somehow (despite being only in his teens) meeting Tony at one of the parties that all the gossip magazines covered and how only he could help this handsome, lost genius see that drinking and drugs weren’t the answer to a broken heart. 

Bucky had (mostly) grown out of all that, although he retained a predilection for wiry, dark eyed brunets with well-groomed facial hair. Which, admittedly, didn’t really explain his disastrous whatever-the-hell-it-was with Brock, but that was in his rearview mirror. Bucky could separate his personal and professional lives just fine, thank you very much. 

He drove back to the SHIELD offices where the techs played back the recorded conversation while Bucky added any other details he could think of. They made arrangements to set him up with what was rumored to be the Soldier’s preferred weapons, and that was that. He had the rest of the evening to himself.

Bucky thought back to his teenage daydreams of visiting Sunset Strip as he walked into Akbar. He’d done the best he could to dress for the evening based on what he’d grabbed out of his closet, combined with a few items he picked up on his way to his hotel; he looked pretty good if he did say so himself. He’d pre-gamed a little at the hotel bar and taken a taxi from there to the WeHo district. If he was very lucky, he wouldn’t be ending the evening alone. 

Bucky had watched the few scant video recordings of the Winter Soldier over and over, trying to get his body language down in order to play the part. Replicating the mercenary’s murder strut worked to Bucky’s advantage as the crowd parted almost magically in front of him as he made his way to the bar. 

“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Moses, would it?” A warm baritone cut through the hubbub after Bucky placed his order. 

“No, it’s James, actually.” Bucky chuckled, appreciating the quick-witted comment. As he turned to face the man who’d spoken to him, he blinked in surprise at the familiar-looking face. “Um, has anyone told you how much you look like Tony Stark?” 

“Yeah, I get that sometimes.” Bucky was drawn in by the way his companion’s eyes sparkled with amusement, as if he’d just made a clever joke. “Think I could cut it as an impersonator down in front of the Chinese theater?” 

Bucky recalled driving down Hollywood Avenue earlier in the day and being both fascinated by and a little saddened at the throngs of tourists getting their photos taken with cut-rate imitations of superheroes and celebrities. 

“Hm - you’d probably have to upgrade your wardrobe a bit; Stark’s an awful snappy dresser.” Bucky took advantage of his words to rake his eyes up and down the other man’s body, lean and toned despite having maybe a decade on Bucky. He then proceeded to surprise himself by saying, “Not that there’s anything wrong with what you’re wearing. It would look great on the floor of my hotel room.” 

That got a delighted laugh from his companion. “Cheesy one-liners are usually my thing, sunshine.” He tilted his head for a moment, looking at Bucky with a curious and intrigued expression. “You aren’t from around here, are you?” 

“Is it that obvious?” Bucky took a sip from his drink to hide his embarrassment. 

“Yes, but not in a bad way. Not at all.” His intrigued look turned into something downright seductive. So, James, were you at all serious about your critique of my outfit?” 

“That depends. For example, I’d like to know what name I could be screaming out later,” Bucky was all for a little hooking up -- he’d made the appropriate purchases in that respect as well, and had a stash of supplies in his front pocket -- but he wanted to know a little something about his putative bedpartner first. 

“Funny enough, it actually is Tony. Tony Carbonell.” He held out his hand, and Bucky shook it purely out of habit. Tony’s grip was strong but not overbearing, the palm a little rough with calluses and scars; Bucky couldn’t help but imagine what Tony’s hands would feel like on parts of him that had been without someone else’s attention for entirely too long. 

“Nice to meetcha, Tony,” Bucky stood and tugged Tony toward him. “I’d like to see -- and feel -- more of you.” 

“That’s the plan, handsome.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Marking this as a one-shot for now, so I don't lead any of y'all on. That said, comments and kudos do feed the muse...


End file.
